home stabilization

bodam

Well-Known Member
I built a home stabilization set up yesterday, and I'm having some problems.

The chamber holds vacuum, while the pump is on, but it will leak down with the pump off. So basically, I leave the pump running.

I put the scales in the solution and run the pump, hoping for the air bubbles to stop, but they never stop. I have a glass jar inside the chamber, with the scales and the resin inside. So any possible air leak shouldn't effect the solution.

I ran a vacuum on a block last night for 3.5 hours, and still saw bubbles. I finally just pulled it out and baked it for an hour. It hardened, but it still floats.

What am I doing wrong?
 
If the bubbles are still coming out of the wood then it stills need longer time in the vacuum. Do you what know level of vacuum you are pulling down to? I suspect that maybe you are not pulling down a very deep vacuum. What micron level is your pump rated for? Check all connections for leaks.
 
My gauge sucks, but it's maxed out.

I just did a batch of lacewood, spalted pecan, and padouk.

All stayed submerged except the padouk. I'm assuming that's too hard to fully stabilize? I figured I'd try it.

Those were under vacuum for about 3 hours. All were thin scales, less than 3/8"


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From what you are saying, the lacewood and Spalted pecan both sink in water after stabilization? If so, I think you can say those are good. The Padouk is a very dense wood that should just barely float in water before stabilization, and isn't a very good wood for home stabilization. What process are you using? Cactus Juice? Good stuff for home stabilization.

You say your vacuum gauge sucks? Well, it's the pump that is supposed to do the sucking {g}. will the pump hold 29"Hg vac? You really need to hold 29"Hg at least for the duration of pulling vacuum on wood. 3 hrs isn't very long for some woods. Something to remember, leave wood in stabilizing liquid for as long as you pulled a vacuum - several hours. That will help the wood soak up more stabilizing liquid. Also, how much end grain is exposed is important. Most of the liquid soaks thru the end grain. So, a spalted wood that's cut cross grain will do a MUCH better job of soaking up the stabilizing liquid than a slab cut with the grain with end grain showing only on end of slab.

Have fun - ken h>
 
I built and tried mine yesterday too! I used a big jar and put 10 scales in chamber at noon. Checked it an hour later, 3 hrs later, 6 hrs later..... I ended up leaving it under vacuum overnight, 20 hrs total, and I still had tiny bubbles this morning. My wood wood was dry, I've heard moisture in wood will cause it to bubble forever. You have to leave pump running the whole time according to manufacturer of Cactus Juice.
 
Anthony, what woods did you use? Have you got the stabilized wood dried yet? If so, will it float?
 
Mine's still soaking. I put in zebra, maple, koa, wenge, dogwood. I can tell at least one is still trying to float, but they are weighted down so it's hard to tell.
 
I'm using cactus juice. The padouk turned the juice orange!

So I guess a 3 hour vacuum isn't that out of question. Sounds like I'm on the right track.

I haven't stopped them in water yet. But they stayed submerged in the juice in the jar I was using


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Anthony, I think even Rosewood floats in Cactus Juice. If the wood sinks in Cactus Juice, you should be good with no problem sinking in water.

Now Dogwood is a new one for me for knife handles. It's certainly a hard wood when dried good. I never considered what it would look like as a knife handle - does it have good grain? OR - did you find some burl/knot area with nice figure?

BTW, is that Padouk wood the wood of African origin? OR - is that the Osage Orange wood here in USA? South Texas folks will call that Bodock (or something like that).

Ken H>
 
It's not Osage. It's the dark orange tight grained wood padouk. I'll try and get a pic


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Ken, I had a good sized Dogwood tree get uprooted in an ice storm a few years ago and being a little bit of a woodworker, I kept the bottom foot or so of the tree. It's been in my shop for a long time and since it is well known as a very hard durable wood, thought I'd try it. I cut some scales at about a 45 degree crosscut to get some action in it. Sort of looks like an endgrain cut, just an experiment.

Bodam I wasn't trying to horn in on your thread, I was just so amazed we both picked the exact same day to try this for the first time. I videoed my first time with it, I'll post it in the WIP one of these days when I get it edited. I've got 8 sets of scales in the oven now, going to let them cook til bedtime.
 
With cactus juice, if I recall correctly, the vacuum needs to be around 100 to 200 microns. This is a pretty deep vacuum. If you are real serious about doing home stabilization then I would suggest a micron gauge. http://www.amazon.com/Supco-VG64-Digital-Accuracy-Connection/dp/B002JP5PAE

Something like that. Without a reliable gauge you are only guessing how much vacuum you are pulling. What is the rest of your setup like beyond the chamber? Pressure hoses do not work for deep vacuum unless they are rated for vacuum also. Each connection is a potential leak. At work when we cannot pull a deep vacuum we always check the pump first, with micron gauge, and then check connections.
 
Looking forward to some photos of that wood - Padouk and Dogwood also. With the Dogwood cut crossgrain, it should be interesting grain pattern, and with all that end grain exposed it may have really soaked up the resin.
 
Here is my setup. It's a vertical chamber made of clear PVC. I got a cheap pump from eBay. 1/8 inch line from lowes and quick connects.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1422849601.481868.jpg


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And the 3 sets of scales I ran earlier today:

Padouk:
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1422849686.482960.jpg


Lacewood:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1422849701.166471.jpg


Spalted Pecan:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1422849720.450070.jpg


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You can see the jar of resin in the pic earlier and how dark it turned from the padouk and lacewood.


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Bodam have you baked yours yet? I did, for about 3 hrs. Not sure if I've done this right. After unwrapping tin foil packs, scales seem real spotty. Some spots look like dry wood, just like it started out, others look shiny.

image.jpg
 

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Yes I baked for about an hour, at around 250ish

I also have bare spots, you can see them in pics.

The resin might just dry in those spots. Because they are fully wet when I bake them.


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